BlackRock $BLK Shares Bought by United Community Bank

United Community Bank increased its holdings in shares of BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) by 46.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,655 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in BlackRock were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLK. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BlackRock by 450.0% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BlackRock by 1,000.0% during the third quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 22 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BlackRock in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BlackRock by 107.1% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 29 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its stake in BlackRock by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 30 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 80.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BLK. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,313.00 price target on shares of BlackRock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,351.00 target price on shares of BlackRock in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BlackRock from $1,310.00 to $1,340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Argus lifted their price target on BlackRock from $1,165.00 to $1,330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on BlackRock from $1,290.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BlackRock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,314.71.

Key Stories Impacting BlackRock

Here are the key news stories impacting BlackRock this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock and Partners Group rolled out a first‑of‑its‑kind private markets SMA for wealthy investors, offering three portfolio mixes (income, balanced growth, growth) and access to funds from BlackRock, HPS and Partners Group — a move that can expand fee‑bearing AUM and wealthy‑client distribution channels. BlackRock and Partners Group Launch Joint Private Markets Account for Wealthy Investors
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets report the new SMAs and wealth‑platform integrations that widen private‑markets access for high‑net‑worth clients — an incremental distribution channel that could raise recurring fees and retention. BlackRock, Partners Group roll out private markets SMA
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock is adding profit‑sharing for private‑markets staff to compete with Apollo, Blackstone, KKR and others — a deliberate push to retain and hire alts talent, which supports long‑term growth in higher‑margin alternative products. $14 trillion asset manager BlackRock unveils its newest weapon in Wall Street ‘alts’ talent war: profit sharing from private markets
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional activity tied to BlackRock’s BUIDL fund boosted tokenized real‑world assets on Avalanche (TVL up sharply), highlighting BlackRock’s push into tokenization and digital liquidity even as the native token underperformed — strategic innovation that could open new product lines but carries crypto execution risk. BlackRock’s BUIDL aids Avalanche tokenization value boom in Q4
• Neutral Sentiment: Speculation that BlackRock might enter a spot XRP ETF by late‑2026 reflects ongoing crypto product optionality; this signals potential future revenue streams but is timing‑and‑demand dependent. BlackRock XRP ETF Next? Canary CEO Eyes Late 2026
• Negative Sentiment: A WSJ report highlighted a recent BlackRock loss and a 19% write‑down in a private‑credit position that had previously been marked at full value — reigniting investor worries about valuation transparency and downside in private‑credit portfolios, which likely drove some of today’s selling pressure. How a BlackRock Loss Reignited Worries About What Is Hiding in Private-Credit

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,125.00, for a total value of $22,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,630,750. This represents a 24.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Martin Small sold 27,047 shares of BlackRock stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,171.14, for a total value of $31,675,823.58. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $12,363,724.98. The trade was a 71.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,305 shares of company stock valued at $55,488,396. 1.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:BLK opened at $1,117.52 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,088.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,108.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 3.33 and a quick ratio of 3.33. BlackRock has a 12-month low of $773.74 and a 12-month high of $1,219.94.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The asset manager reported $13.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.55 by $0.61. BlackRock had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 22.93%.The firm had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $5.73 per share. This represents a $22.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from BlackRock’s previous quarterly dividend of $5.21. BlackRock’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.84%.

About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of products and services to institutional, intermediary and individual investors. Its core activities include portfolio management across active and index strategies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) under the iShares brand, fixed income, equity and multi-asset solutions, as well as alternatives such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure. The firm also offers cash management and liquidity solutions and retirement-focused products designed for defined contribution and defined benefit investors.

In addition to traditional investment management, BlackRock is known for its technology and risk management capabilities, most prominently its Aladdin platform, which combines portfolio management, trading and risk analytics and is used both internally and licensed to external clients.